The Romulan War Stories: 5 - Conversations and Changes
by BonesBird
Summary: The events from Tau Ceti and Deneva are still on everyone's minds, and as the Starfleet camp prepare themselves for the next battles, the psychological effects of 2 years of war begin showing themselves.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is the 5th story in the series. We're now more than halfway through. Just. Eeep! Hope you're still enjoying it. Shin x**

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_**January**** 2158**_

The repairs seemed to have accelerated in the week he'd been on Earth, _Enterprise_ would be ready to return to the war within the week, he wondered which ships would be accompanying them, considering the damage the fleet had taken. He was reading the report that had just arrived from _Columbia_, who were repairing their skirmish damage, nothing that had been even close to the damage that _Enterprise_ had taken. He was still focusing on their report when he heard the chime. He shook his head, thinking that if this was Erika, she had impeccable timing. "Come." He shouted in the direction of the door, dropping the report onto the ever growing pile that lived on his desk. When he looked up, one of the last faces he had expected to see was smiling at him. "Hoshi."

"Hi sir." She said, looking over his pile of PADDs and progress reports.

"I wasn't expecting you back from leave yet?" He had returned with Erika once her leave had been over, and he'd wanted to check in on _Enterprise_. While he loved being on Earth, being in his and Erika's apartment without her always made him more uncomfortable than he liked to admit. He hadn't expected any of Enterprise's senior staff to leave Earth before they needed too in order to return at the end of the week.

Hoshi however shrugged, the smile on her face taking a little more of a strained quality. He wondered what she had decided to come and speak to him about, was it part of the reason she was back so early. "Trip wanted to come and check on his engine, you know what he's like."

"Oh yeah, how can I help you?"

She sat on the sofa that took up the other side of this ready room, wringing her hands together. He had seen her worry about something enough times to know that she'd tell him as soon as she had the right words for it. "You know that my service is up in May unless I decide to sign up again?"

"I remember." He nodded, and hoped that she was about to tell him she would be renewing her commission, however her demeanour told him that she was going the other way, she was going to return to Earth.

"I don't think I'm going to renew."

"Any reason why?" He needed to know, because then he could try to convince her to stay, maybe he needed to try and get Trip, Travis and Malcolm in on this, trying to get her to change her mind. However he was almost certain that Trip would have already tried as best he could before she had even got to this point.

"It's a combination of things, really. A lot of it is that I'm not really using a lot of my skills with the war on, and I've been offered another position at UCLAN once my service is up. Trip and I have also been talking about maybe settling down as well, starting a family." That told him everything he needed to know. Trip was in on Hoshi's decision.

"He's not going to be leaving me as well, is he?" He asked, only half jokingly. The laugh that escaped from Hoshi told him that he was at least right on that point, Trip would be staying, even if Hoshi left. He thought back on the conversations he'd had with Trip a couple of times, about how he dealt with being so far away from Erika so often, and now it made sense, if Trip had known that Hoshi was considering this, he'd want opinions of the people who were already maintaining a relationship through the fleet, and he and Erika had been doing it rather successfully for almost 4 years now.

"I don't think I could ever pull him away from _Enterprise_, sir."

He smiled a little, thinking about what Hoshi had said. The decision to try starting a family was a big step in any relationship, and he knew from experience that there wasn't always a happy ending. "You and Trip are thinking of a family."

"It's time, I always knew I wanted a family, and Trip's feelings on it have been changed since Rosa was born."

That convinced him that she was already set in her decision, she wasn't going to change her mind, he still had a duty to try. "I'm not going to pretend I won't miss having you on _Enterprise_."

"You'll still see me all the time." She grinned, leaning forward, clearly more confident about what she was doing now than she had been when she stepped into his little sanctuary.

"So, we'll be losing you in May then. Nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"I don't think so. I've been thinking about this for a long time, and this just seemed like it was the best time for me, you don't need a linguist on a warship, and anyone can be a comm officer."

"I won't tell Erika you said that." He joked, knowing that the two women had become relatively good friends over the last few years, particularly since Erika's XO had died in the first few months of the war and she had needed someone to speak too. Hoshi's grin told him that she understood the implications of the joke, and he shook his head, wondering if he was really that predictable.

"She's a linguist too, you really don't know what we do, do you?"

"Not a clue, I'm not going to lie. You've been a good friend all these years Hoshi."

"You'll survive without me, and I'll always be the other end of the comm now the net is back up."

"I'll start filling in your discharge paperwork then. We'll have dinner, tomorrow night, you can tell me more about this decision making process."

"Can't do it tonight?" She asked, and he shook his head, if he was able to change his plans he would, but _Columbia_ would likely be leaving for patrol duty in the morning, and he didn't know when or if he'd see Erika again, his night had been spoken for since she'd told him their departure date.

"Dinner with Erika."

"Tomorrow it is." She smiled as she left the room. He sat back and looked at the door as it closed behind her, his emotions all over the place. He had always known that Hoshi would want to leave when her service was up, he had hoped that she might have extended to stay on with them until the end of the war. While she'd be discharged from active service, he knew that she'd stay on the reserve list, Starfleet wasn't about to let it's best go. He hoped that if the Academy he'd proposed was developed by command that Hoshi would consider teaching there. They would need all the experienced teachers they could get.

He wondered if he should start looking at who in their ranks could possibly replace Hoshi, he had gotten too used to depending on her in a crisis, and her ear was the most sensitive he'd ever come across, he wasn't worried about saying that. He hadn't spoken one word of a lie, he would miss her, and replacing her would be harder than he wanted to contemplate.


	2. Chapter 2

_**February 2158**_

Her quarters weren't as dark as she'd expected them to be, and she wondered why. After a few minutes she realised that the tiny lamp she kept beside her bed for reading was on, and the form on her bed told her she had a visitor. She smiled a little, happy to see him even if she had thought he'd gone back to _Enterprise_. "Jonathan. What are you doing?" She asked, sitting on the bed beside him and looking at the book he'd picked to read. He shut it before she got the chance to recognise it and sat up beside her, both leaning against her headrest.

"Trying to surprise you." He replied, wrapping his pinky around hers in their standard gesture of comfort.

"This doesn't count." She teased, trying to keep the mood upbeat, even as her mind tried to jump back to the topic that she'd been mentally debating for hours as she'd been helping out in a quiet corner of engineering.

"What is it?" He asked after a minute, and she turned to him, realising he'd been studying her as she'd sat thinking. She tried to shake it out of her mind, focusing on the fact that he was there, rather than the reason she'd had to call him, and the reason they saw so much of each other at the moment anyway.

"What do you mean?" She deflected, hoping he wouldn't push.

"You haven't been this unhappy in years, last time was when-"

She held a hand up and shook her head. She didn't need to be reminded of that. She really didn't. There were worse things that had happened since, but she'd been able to deal with them, or she thought she had, until recently. "Don't remind me. I'm just tired, _Columbia_'s been having engine issues again, that's why we had to call you out here." She shook her head, hoping she could just put her mood down to being tired. "I haven't slept in, I think, 4 days."

"We need to change that, let Kalil take over for a while."

"I can now we have back up. We're running under capacity and that is making it harder for us."

"I'll stay on _Columbia_ while you sleep if you want?" He smiled and nudged her lightly with his shoulder, another of his little gestures. She had to agree to that, considering she hoped that meant he wouldn't leave her side. They had only been apart three weeks, but she had missed him, and she did need to talk about what was in her mind. She nodded a little, and leant against him, taking hold of his hand fully. After another minute of silence he kissed the top of her head and asked another question. "What else has been going on?"

"We sighted the Romulans, on the far side of Rigel. Few phaser volleys fired, but they retreated and we did the trade we needed to do. Nothing major." That was the root of her problem, wasn't it. Firing weapons but getting a retreat was no longer a big deal. When she had taken command of _Columbia_ she'd hoped that firing weapons would always be a last resort. No longer. Now she knew that wasn't to be her destiny. She was destined to be a cynical, broken Captain, and she wasn't OK with that. She felt Jonathan studying her again, and after a second he muttered.

"Why do I feel like you're not telling me everything?"

"You're my superior and I have to tell you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He sat up again, pulling away just a little to look at her with an incredulous look on his face. She mentally slapped herself for that, it was a stupid comment, especially at the moment, she knew what her mind was doing, it was trying to protect itself by pushing him away, and she needed to stop that.

"Nothing. Jon I-" She started, but he cut her off before she could explain.

"Erika, if we have a problem we're going to talk about it."

"I swear, Jon. I'm just in a pissy mood because I feel like after almost 2 years we should be in a stronger position than this. The war is wearing me down and I just want it to be over, but it doesn't really look like it's going to be, does it?" She didn't realise how much she had wanted to say those words to someone, to anyone. She kept hold of Jon's eyes, hoping that he'd see that was her problem. The damn war was her problem, never him, never what they had.

"Not really, but we've had months of mostly skirmishes, aside from Tau Ceti. I promise you that we'll make it through the war, both of us." He leant down and kissed her gently before settling back against the headrest, she waited a minute and went back to leaning on his shoulder, even as her current pessimistic outlook on the universe took over.

"You can't say that."

"Yes I can."

That response made her chuckle, and she wasn't sure why. How did he break her maudlin mood with three little words. Not even three words of love or friendship, just three words about nothing at all. "You seem awfully sure of yourself."

"I am. I know this is a terrible time, and honestly, _Columbia_ has had more than her fair share of losses, you've had more than your fair share of losses. You have still managed to come through it, and you're still doing your duty to Starfleet and to Earth when many others wouldn't."

She took that in, and wondered if now was the time to let him know what she was thinking about when the war ended, whenever that would be, or if she lived to see the end of it. "I'm thinking about taking some leave, after the war, I want to have some time to rebuild myself, to just get away from all this. Years ago you told me I'd feel differently when I'd delivered a eulogy or two, and I didn't believe you. But you know what you were right. It's not what I thought it was out here and I'm not sure if I can actually hack it."

He once again pulled back to look at her, but this time she knew he was trying to see if she was on the verge of another breakdown. He had always been protective of her, more so in the years since the Orions had taken her, it was something she found endearing, but it did sometimes make her nervous. "Erika, you can, trust me. I wasn't right, I was completely wrong. There are problems, and things aren't always perfect, but we're good, and we're happy. Between the two of us we can figure it out."

"I'm still going to take some leave, if only so I can spend more time with you. That's the important thing for me."

"I might take it with you." He grinned, and she suddenly felt a little safer, a little less alone. She knew that he was just trying to reassure her, but she did feel better. She needed to put a brave face on for her crew, so they didn't know exactly how hard it was on her, being in command through all the battles and the losses. But she didn't have to lie to Jonathan, she didn't have to pretend with him. She could tell him, and know that he wouldn't judge her. There was still so much for them to do, and the Romulans wouldn't give them the chance to slow down, they needed to keep going and keep fighting, because if they stopped that was it, game over. That was the end.


	3. Chapter 3

_**March**_

The Captains' mess was full of Kiona and Sidra's conversation. Erika sat back watching the two younger officers debate together, seemingly oblivious of the others in the room. Kalil shot a look in Erika's direction and jokingly shook her head as Kiona replied to Sidra's declaration of what she was intending to do as soon as the war was over. "OK so, you're telling me that the first place you'll go when the war is over is Canada?"

"Yeah, mostly to try and meet your brother." Sidra shrugged, Erika had often wondered if her comm officer was even capable of shame, but she'd never decided to try and find out for certain. While she was curious, she wasn't that curious.

"You do remember that my brother is married right?"

"And that matters to me because? I'll introduce you to my cousin."

"Is she hot?" The change in Kiona's tone caused the rest of the room to all burst out laughing, that was until Sidra turned in Erika's direction with a hand gesture.

"Gorgeous, she's met the captain. Isn't my cousin gorgeous Captain?"

Erika held her hands up and shook her head, the pure picture of innocence. She honestly didn't remember though, that much was the truth. "I don't remember, I've met a lot of people the last few years."

"Well you're no help. What about you Kalil, any plans?" Sidra turned the conversation away from judging her plans onto Kalil, who just shook his head with a grin.

"I have a wife and, I think, 7 kids. I don't get to make plans."

"You think?" Kiona asked, a disbelieving tone to her voice.

"I gave up keeping track after Aisha."

"Aisha's your second, Kalil." Erika pointed out, she remembered Kalil's two eldest, particularly Aisha, who had come to visit _Columbia_ before she launched, and had climbed onto Erika's knee in the Captain's chair and refused to move until she'd gotten to pretend she was the captain. It had been the first example to her crew that she was not designed for children, something that they all still laughed about now.

"I know."

"You're an awful parent." Sidra shook her head, but Kalil just smiled again. Somehow he made his family work. Clearly Amsha was an extremely patient woman.

"You're not the first person to tell me that. Every time I go home on leave there is a new one in the house." He chuckled.

"Captain, do you have any plans?"

Erika looked in Sidra's direction across the table, thinking for a second. She didn't have any firm plans, she had ideas, but they weren't close to plans. "None as of yet, I'm probably going to take leave for a while though. There are some things I want to try to do."

"Marrying Captain Archer?"

"That's one of them, yes, if he'll have me at least." She smiled at that, they had spoken about eventually marrying, when they had the chance, but it was still so far from happening she felt it was better to joke about it than get her hopes up too high.

"It must be nice for you two," Sidra looked between the two commanding officers, "you have someone you know will be happy to see you, someone who is happy whenever we make contact with them." Sidra smiled, a wistful look on her face. Kalil and Erika, however, exchanged a knowing look about the perils of having a significant other when they were out on the front.

"You'd think that, but it's also a massive worry, what will they do without me-" Kalil started, and Erika picked up the ball.

"Who would be the one to break the news if I wasn't a lucky one-"

"What if there is an attack and I can't protect them-"

"And the utter terror there is whenever _Enterprise_ goes into battle-"

"And the fear when we go into battle."

She shook her head, chuckling just a little."I make Jonathan a video before every battle. I swear, I update it twice a week."

"I make a new one for Amsha as well. Seems to be quite common, Lieutenant Harris updates hers twice a week, and she does two, one in each language."

"I do one in Spanish for my mother." Erika admitted, wondering what other language Lieutenant Harris spoke, considering she didn't have any particular accent. She made a mental note to go look into the files on that one.

"I do one in French for my family too. It's hard for them too I guess. They have to worry about what we're doing out here, and the press aren't always the most helpful in keeping spirits up."

"That's too true, in some ways that's why I'm glad Jon is at least in the service and knows the truth, the amount of times Simon or my mother have called me asking for the truth behind a news service piece is ridiculous, and it's hard to have to tell them every time that I can't actually tell them anything because of operational security."

"I hate opsec for that exact reason sometimes."

"Captain, since we've heard about Kalil's brood of millions-" Kiona started, and Erika already didn't like where it was going before Kalil interrupted with the count.

"Seven. I think."

"-Is there any chance of you and Captain Archer starting a family?"

"I am fairly sure I answered this question once before." She shook her head, it was a subject she didn't particularly want to talk about nor think about.

"That was a year ago, the answer might have changed."

"I can assure you it hasn't, at least not yet. I'm 43 years old, I think my time has been and gone."

"My aunt Maxie had her first daughter when she was 52."

"When I know the answer to this question, you will probably be among the first to know." She shook her head, wondering why every conversation with Sidra and Kiona ended up back at kids. She knew that Kalil and his wife had a large brood, one that continually grew. She was fairly sure that when Columbia had launched 4 years earlier there had only 3 el-Rashad children, so she was unsurprised to know that they were up to 7 now. Kalil's joke about his family growing every time he got leave did seem to be surprisingly accurate.

When it came to a family of her own, she didn't really want to think about one. The attempt almost a decade earlier had been painful enough. This time she was just determined to actually marry Jonathan, any thoughts of a family would fall into place after that, she was sure. These quiet moments in the middle of the war weren't going to be a common occurrence, and she wanted to try and make them as meaningful as she could when they came up. They had been serving together long enough to be considered friends now, but during the war, maybe that was a problem, there was a chance that they would all be dead tomorrow. It might not be the most likely course of action, but it was possible, and that was the issue.


	4. Chapter 4

_**April 2158**_

The bridge was almost silent, everyone absorbed in their own thoughts. The background noise of a ship travelling at warp were the only tells that they weren't in a silent bubble. In these quiet moments the most mundane thoughts crossed his mind, thoughts about new deployments for Starfleet's forces, and thoughts about what soup was his favourite, the topic his mind chose did tend to change the hungrier he got, and the later into a shift it got. The peace of the bridge was interrupted when the turbolift doors opened to reveal a bickering Trip and Hoshi, but the smiles on their faces made Jon think it wasn't about anything serious. After a second they seemed to become aware that the entire bridge was staring at them, and made their way forward, at which point Trip stopped and nodded in the direction of the ready room. "Can we have a quick word, Jon."

"Sure, Travis, you've got the bridge." He led the two of them to his ready room, he could tell there was something going on, but what it was he wasn't certain. They were either going to give him ridiculously good news, or really bad news. Either way he was pretty sure what it was going to be about. "How can I help you both?"

The two looked at each other for a moment before Hoshi turned to him with a smile. "I'm pregnant."

"Wow. Congratulations!" He grinned, glad to know his initial thoughts were right. He looked between the two feeling a little bit like a proud big brother. He motioned toward the sofa, inviting them both to sit down. Hoshi accepted straight away, while Trip looked a little awkward for a minute, then just a little confused.

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be, Hoshi came and spoke to me months ago saying that it was a possibility." The look that Trip shot to his partner told Jon that maybe Hoshi hadn't actually told Trip about that conversation, and Jon recalled a conversation with Trip a year earlier where he had threatened to terminate his commission if he got another officer pregnant. On that note he felt it was probably a good idea to reassure his friend. "This isn't a repeat of what happened last time."

"Don't remind me, I still feel like an idiot."

Hoshi tugged Trip's arm, and grinned in his direction. "So, now I'll definitely be leaving when we get back to Earth. Three weeks, right?" She asked, and Jon checked the itinerary that was conveniently the first thing on his desk.

"Around about, I definitely couldn't convince you to stay now then?" He joked, and Trip looked ever so slightly horrified at the suggestion.

"No, I need to go home now. I've got the position at UCLAN to fall back on at least."

"You'd be living in Lancashire though." Trip complained, and for a minute Jon felt like he was watching a disagreement they'd had many times. Jon had to admit, however much he had enjoyed going fell walking with Erika in both Lancashire and Yorkshire, living there would not have been on his list of top destinations.

"And teaching at a top communications school."

"Why don't you stay in San Francisco and teach at the Starfleet training school." Jon spoke up, breaking the argument he could see coming before it started, mostly because he hated being put in the middle, but also because he thought that would be a better use for Hoshi's talents and training.

"I didn't know there was one. I mean I knew there was a plan but." She said, he nodded with a smile and handed her one of the other padds on his desk, the one he'd downloaded the school specs onto the night before so he could think about it.

"There isn't, technically. It's due to open in September, it's just centralising things that we send recruits to UC for."

"Your idea Captain?" Trip asked with a cocky grin, and Jon realised that his friend really did know him a little too well at times.

"Maybe, the initial plans were, but a lot of it has been pushed through by Gardner. I'll contact him tonight if that's the route you want to try."

"I would prefer to stay in San Francisco, be near to headquarters." Hoshi's confirmation was all he needed to know, and he hoped that maybe they could just sort through that now, he saw Trip's look of relief, and wondered if something else was at play there. Now wasn't the time to ask though.

"Done. Anything else I can do?"

"I don't think so, thanks Captain. Could you do me a favour though, tell Captain Hernandez." He narrowed his eyes a little, as far as he knew Erika and Hoshi hadn't spoken all that much recently, then again, there was a lot he didn't know about the two women, despite the amount of time he'd known both of them. Apparently Hoshi caught onto his confusion and smiled. "When we were last at Earth she gave me some really good advice and we've been sending letters. We have to tell our families, and you speak to her every day anyway." That was certainly true, and they had been disturbed by an emergency on _Columbia_ the night before, Erika pulled away only after a few minutes. It would also give him chance to touch base with her and get a report on what was happening on that side of Earth's space.

"Of course, I'll try calling her now." He smiled, watching as the two headed out. He hit the contact and typed his own contact details in, hoping that Erika would be able to talk, then again, if the ship was in the middle of an alert his call wouldn't have connected. He looked at her ready room for a minute, almost a mirror of his own, aside from more padds on the desk, and different pictures on the walls. After a second she sat at her desk, a puzzled look on her face.

"Jon?"

"You look surprised to hear from me." He teased with a smile, studying her face. The stress and worry obvious even across the subspace distance.

"It's a little early for your usual call. What's going on?" She asked, the suspicion in her voice not even slightly disguised.

"Suspicious much? It's nothing bad, I've just been asked to give you some news, and I thought I'd use it as an excuse since we only got a minute to talk last night. How is _Columbia_?" He asked the question that was worrying him most, he knew that she'd probably skate over it though, she normally did. She hated worrying him.

"We had a quick skirmish with the Romulans, they seem to be building a force out this way, the Draylax to Rigel run is getting more dangerous by the day." After a second she took a breath and didn't give him time to respond, despite the multitude of questions that had occurred to him after her news of the Romulans. "What's this news?"

"Hoshi's pregnant."

A sincere smile spread across her face. One he hadn't seen in such a long time, longer than he cared to remember. He wondered if there would be a time he'd see it again. "Great! I'm happy for her, it was something she really wanted."

"I didn't even know you two had spoken about it." He said, and Erika's smile immediately turned slightly mischievous, which made him nervous, for some reason.

"That's because you were too busy speaking to the security council."

"Oh. What happened with the Romulans?" The mention of the security council had brought them back to the common topic of conversation between the two of them at the moment, the war. He wished that there was more time for them, but they were the slaves of duty in this situation.

"No casualties, only minor damage. The Romulans retreated, but Jon, I need help out this way, I've tried to appeal to Gardner but he's said this stretch of space isn't a priority." The growl she let out at that was quite uncharacteristic for her. Once upon a time she had been the one who had done everything by the book, maybe he was rubbing off on her after all. "There have been 5 attacks in the last three days. _Columbia_ can't make it to all of them, it's simply not possible." Her frustration was understandable, _Atlantis_ and _Endeavour_ had been given the safer routes, mostly because of the perceived inexperience of their crews, leaving _Columbia_ alone on the dangerous side of space. He had argued against that at the time, and now hearing that they'd been put under that much strain. If _Enterprise_ hadn't been running low on supplies he'd have ordered a course change to go and help them out.

"I'll speak to Gardner for you, I said when you were given that route that_ Atlantis_ should have been sent to partner you, _Endeavour_ is doing Betazed to Deneva, probably the safest shipping route."

"Don't remind me." She growled again, and he wished he was closer, even if just so that he could tell her that it would be alright.

"I'll speak to Gardner and call you back tonight."

"Thanks Jon, give Hoshi a hug from me and tell her I'll call her when I get a few minutes."

"Will do, and Rike, be safe." The last was his standard order, and he smiled, a second of allowing her to see the man behind the uniform, the man who worried about her, and who loved her.

"Always Jonathan, you too." She smiled as she cut the contact, he had always known there was something strange about only sending one NX ship to the Draylax-Rigel run, the two planets both on the border with Romulan space. Hearing that _Columbia_ had been called to quite so many attacks in such a short time really did back up Erika's call for help. He also knew her, if she was really calling for help, there was something serious going on there, and she really was struggling to do what was required of her under the treaties Earth had signed. He needed to fight this battle on her behalf, because he knew she was too busy to do it herself.


	5. Chapter 5

_**May 2158**_

Trip watched from his corner of the bridge, quite happy that at this moment he didn't need to be anywhere but reading the stats on his screen. The vessel they were against was not only damaged, but also clearly spoiling for a fight if they got one, or at least, that was how it looked to him. Jon, however, went through the standard routine of hailing the ship and stating, clearly, that they were not welcome. It didn't matter that this was out near the border, it was Earth space and nobody was happy the Romulans had shown up uninvited. "Romulan vessel, this is the United Earth starship Enterprise. You are in Earth controlled space. This is a continued act of aggression against the United Earth government. We require you to leave this space immediately."

"No response captain." Donna Jones, the comm officer who had been Hoshi's second for 7 years, was now the one taking the calls, and even though he knew, logically, that he shouldn't dislike that she was at the comm station, he still wished Hoshi was sat across the bridge from him.

Jon's voice a second later pulled him away from his thoughts, and he wondered if he was going to need to make a fast run to engineering in a moment, just to make sure his engines survived another battle. "Mal, bring weapons online and polarise the hull plating."

"Yes sir."

"They are retreating, Captain." The tension on the bridge was broken, and he saw the war-weary smiles of half a dozen officers, and was almost certain there was one on his face too. None of them wanted a battle. Trip kept an eye on his sensors before looking up in time to see the Romulan ship go to warp, headed back in the direction of Romulus and Romulan space. "That's a good sign, right?" Jack Tyrell, the most recent officer to take on the science officer position confirmed then asked, looking around the others on the bridge

"They are only one ship." Malcolm put the damper on the minute celebrations with that comment, but Trip shared a quick look with their captain, and almost immediately knew that something needed to be said.

"Let's not try thinking about that and take this as a win anyway." He said, jumping in before the Captain could say something, and the smiles crept back onto others' faces.

"Resume our patrol route." Jon ordered only a second later, then tapped his watch a couple of times. "What time is it?"

"22 hundred." Jack replied almost immediately, and a lead weight seemed to drop into Trip's stomach.

"Shit!"

"What's up?" Jon asked, coming over toward the engineering station, where it was best he lower his voice, allowing the two of them the tiniest amount of Captain/XO privacy, not that it really mattered.

"I promised I'd call Hoshi." He shook his head, feeling like an idiot that he was upset by that. He shared a quick look with Jon, everyone on the ship knew how he felt, they all missed someone, but maybe the Captain understood just a little more than the average.

"Give her a call now, I'm sure we can keep everything going while you speak to her."

"I thought you had the comm at this time?" He asked, and he really didn't want to deprive Jon of his time to talk to Captain Hernandez, or whoever else he called when he got off duty.

"Erika can wait, she's probably busy too." Jon shrugged with a smile. "We're due to meet _Columbia_ in a few days anyway. So. Call Hoshi, tell her we all miss her."

"I will, thanks Jon." He clasped his friend on the shoulder and set off in the direction of his quarters, hoping that he'd be there before Hoshi picked up the call that he knew Donna would have routed through for him, however when he slid in front of his terminal Hoshi's face was already looking out of the screen. She shook her head with a smile, and he caught the reflection of his goofy grin, resisting the urge to shake his head himself.

"Trip. I thought you'd forgotten."

"Just a little trouble with the Romulans. Can't forget this, can I?"

"I don't know, it wouldn't be the first time." She grinned and he shook his head at the teasing. She was never going to let that go, he was certain, but at least he knew what was going on.

"Jon gave up his comm time so I could call you. How are things at the training centre?"

"Interesting, I got my class today, they are a smart bunch, some of them speak almost as many languages as me." She smiled and leant backwards a little. He knew that she was going to be an amazing teacher, again. He had to remind himself that she had already been a teacher for a while before she had joined _Enterprise_, and she forever told him that it was like riding a bike.

"You'll whip them into shape soon enough, I'm sure. How's our girl doing?" He asked, and Hoshi looked down to her bump briefly before putting her hand on it with a smile.

"She's a girl today?"

"I'm the one who doesn't change their mind every day."

"OK, you win. She's fine. I felt her kick properly for the first time today." He broke into a grin again, he could feel it on his cheeks, and he imagined what that must have felt like. Their little girl, or boy, growing and developing, just the way they needed.

"I wish I was there for that."

"You don't, it feels strange." She shook her head, causing him to laugh. He remembered Sara saying something quite similar when she'd been pregnant with Rosa, even though that hadn't been her first pregnancy. He remembered his mother saying something similar about the first time a baby kicked as well. Pregnancy was a weird time. That much was certain.

"Pregnancy isn't exactly the least strange time of life."

"I am the only woman on Earth who can't play the 'if you were Pregnant' card." Hoshi complained with a good-natured teasing tone. He shook his head at her, causing her to laugh harder than he'd expected. "You look tired, go to sleep." She observed a second later, and he ran his hands over his face, agreeing with her there.

"I could say the same to you. I'll try to call earlier tomorrow, I want to hear all about your classes."

"Oh, Trip, do me one thing. Tell Jon I had his mother to visit today, she's doing well and wants to know when he'll grace her with a grandchild." That did cause him to laugh, and that kind of message from his mom was not going to be Jon's favourite thing in history. Trip was fairly sure it wasn't the first time that his mother had been on his case about it, but it would be amusing being the one to deliver the message.

"I'll enjoy telling him that, as if he isn't getting enough shit about not marrying Captain Hernandez from people on the ship."

"You really should stop giving him a hard time about that, you know what those two are like, they'll do it on their own time."

"Who are you and what have you done with Hoshi?" He asked, never knowing her to defend the two captains before, in fact, she had been the one who had started a lot of the teasing.

"I've been taken over by your devil spawn, you should see this."

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the screen as she stood up and showed the bump, it was a fair bit bigger than the last time he'd seen her. It was an amazing sight to see as well. He almost couldn't believe that he was actually going to be a father again, this time the way he had wanted. He just stared another few moments before he could think of any word to explain his feelings. "Wow."

"Don't wow me, I swear Sara wasn't this big at 15 weeks."

"Rosa wasn't a big baby though. _Enterprise_ is headed back to Earth for resupply in a few weeks, I'll spend a couple of leave days at home."

"Good. Now, go to bed, we'll talk tomorrow, and I'll have a day of classes to tell you about."

"Yes Miss Sato."

"Don't start." She complained, blushing red. He couldn't help but laugh a little at the embarrassment and pride he saw.

"Love you."

"Caru ti, nos da."

"Which language tonight?" He asked, their nightly ritual of Hoshi replying in a different language something they had built up over the last few weeks. She knew enough languages that she hadn't repeated one yet.

"Figure it out." She smiled before severing the connection. He sat back on the chair, already missing her on his screen. She looked fantastic, and even though it had only been three weeks since she'd left _Enterprise_, and he had spoken to her almost daily since then, he still missed her. Their daily calls were far more for his benefit than hers, but he hoped she looked forward to them at least half as much as he did. Judging by the lack of progress in the war, he wouldn't be home for good soon. It seemed like Starfleet and Romulan forces were at a stalemate, but stalemates could be broken, and when they were, it didn't normally end well.


	6. Chapter 6

**I am updating this and the next 2 chapters from a hotel room in central London. I am at a convention! YEY!**

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_**June 2158**_

Trip paced along the side of Jon's bed again. He had dropped in just as the Captain was getting ready for bed, and while he didn't normally mind the visit from his chief engineer, the reports of the Romulan movements that had come in from the Andorians had given way to Trip panicking, again, about things at home. They were all worried a little, but they had been reassured by Erika, who had spoken to the doctor when Hoshi had called her. "Why didn't she call me?" He asked again, even though he knew the answer.

"_Enterprise_ was at tactical alert. Erika says she's fine, Trip, and we'll be back on Earth tomorrow."

"I just need to see that she's fine myself." Jon could understand that, even if he didn't completely accept that he was worrying for a reason. There were too many things to worry about if you let it all get over, especially when talking about a pregnancy.

"She's 18 weeks, right?" Jon asked, he had tried to remember, but it was mostly a guess. It seemed like everything went far quicker on the ship than it did on Earth. Maybe it was the fact that there was never really night on a starship. He needed to stop thinking, he was tired, and his thoughts weren't the most coherent he'd ever had. When he focused his eyes on Trip again, he could see the engineer doing some quick mental maths as well.

"And 3, yeah. I think so. I try to keep track of the days but you know what it's like on this ship."

"Oh yeah." Jon chuckled and gripped Trip's shoulder. "She wouldn't have told Erika she was alright if she wasn't. You know how close they've gotten."

"It's hard not to worry when I'm not there, you'll know that one day. Erika will be expecting and you'll spend every day panicking. It seems to be all I do right now."

"Won't it be worth it in the end?" Jon asked, knowing that every day of worry was enough when he could see Erika again, maybe it wasn't the same for them because Erika wasn't pregnant, but after so many years out in space together, he couldn't help but think that he at least had some idea of what Trip was thinking about.

"If the baby is OK." Trip's melancholy took over again, and Jon shook his head, wondering what he could say.

"It will be, I'm sure of that."

"I don't think we could survive losing her, not now we've got so attached to the idea."

"You'd be surprised what you can do even when tragedy happens." He muttered, not really thinking about what he was saying until it was already out of his mouth. Trip suddenly looked up and levelled him with a sympathetic look.

"That sounds like experience?" He asked, and Jon made the decision to let his best friend in on the secret he'd kept for most of a decade, mostly because he'd had no reason to share it, it was his business, Erika's business, and they'd kept that part of their bond between the two of them.

"Erika lost a baby, before _Enterprise_. We weren't trying, but we were." He let out a humourless laugh and shook his head. "Neither of us has really spoken about that with anyone else. She wasn't all that far through, but it was devastating at the time. Still is now sometimes, when I think that she or he would be 9 years old." He stopped for a minute and wondered, would the baby be more like him, or more like Erika. Who would he have looked like, who would he have acted like. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and pinched his nose, trying to stop his train of thought. "Who knows what would have happened to Erika and I had we had that baby."

"Some things you're better off not knowing. You think you two might try again?"

"We've never spoken about it. We're both too busy with the war and the little business of being captains." He stopped again, and pondered Trip's question, if only in the hypothetical. "I'd love a family, one day, and I'd love that family to be with Erika. But if we are only a family of two, I can live with that." He smiled, that was the honest truth. If he spent the rest of his life with Erika alone, that would be enough. He knew that so many people didn't have the opportunity to spend their lives with someone who was completely perfect for them, so he wasn't going to throw their relationship away again.

"Suppose you and her have always been slaves of duty?"

"Oh yeah, and we let it get in the way a lot really, but that's our positions. It's the way we've always been."

"I can see that." Trip shook his head and stood up again. "Could you try contacting Starfleet Medical again?"

"Trip. Go get some sleep, we'll be at Earth before you know it." Jon knew when it was best to push his XO into getting some sleep, thankfully this close to Earth, an emergency cropping up was unlikely. He needed to focus on getting home and making his reports to Starfleet, including one telling them that they needed more help out in the midrange so that the NX ships could continue patrolling the outer systems.

He watched Trip leave, following him with his eyes. Then thinking he needed to follow his own advice and get some sleep. However confident he was to Trip, he worried about Hoshi too, although he was certain that Erika would have told him if there was something seriously wrong, because of their experience. He knew that telling Trip he knew what the worst outcome was, and how hard that had been on him was the right thing to do, but he would need to tell Erika eventually that he knew, that was definitely a conversation to have in person. As it was he needed to think about the battle plans. Already six months into another year with no pressure from the Romulans aside from the occasional skirmish. There was something wrong there, and he couldn't put his finger on why.


	7. Chapter 7

**I had every intention of updating while I was in London, but by the end of every day I was half asleep, so it wasn't worth it. I'm home now after having had a fabulous time at the convention. 2 more coming this month too! They are both in MY city though, so no travelling 400 miles. Anyway. Back to the story. 2 more chapters after this one, then we're on to Story 6! This is going very fast! **

**For my regular Jorika readers - I need your suggestions for stories you'd like to see! If you have an idea of something you'd like to see for our favourite couple, please message me. (Don't worry, I promise in the continuing series they get their happy ever after!) - Shin xx**

_**June 2158**_

The comm distance was only serving to remind Erika that Jon wasn't there. It had only been a week since they'd last been together, but it felt like much longer, and that was at least half the battle than she was feeling this low, convincing herself that he distance wasn't going to last all that much longer. Apparently, she had been staring at his face long enough on the screen to begin causing concern. "Rike, are you alright?"

"Sorry, Jon. I just miss you." She muttered, and for a moment wondered if he felt the same, or if she really was just feeling sorry for herself.

"I miss you too, it's been a long week, hasn't it?" He smiled ever so slightly, just tugging at the corners of his lips. He couldn't be more right, and that made her almost laugh. _Columbia_ had had two small skirmishes with the Romulans, and a very long journey back to Earth had been on Jonathan's books. She hadn't told him about the skirmishes, but by now she was certain he'd read her reports. As if reading her mind he looked slightly behind her into her darkened bedroom and asked with a hint of worry "_Columbia_ is OK, isn't she?"

"She's fine, we're all fine." She couldn't deny that she was touched by his concern for her ship. She wondered if being tired had anything to do with the fact she missed him. She shook her head as if to try and wake herself up a little before continuing. "We'll make it to Deneva, and we'll make the decision there. Go on or go home." She did kind of want to return to Earth, she wasn't going to deny that, but she hoped that it wasn't going to be forced up on her by damage that they couldn't repair.

"_Enterprise_ is only going to be home a few more days." Jon frowned and sounded a little sad that if _Columbia_ did have to return to Earth, _Enterprise_ likely wouldn't be there to greet her. She frowned sadly as well, that would have been a nice excuse to meet-up, even if they were seeing a lot of each other lately. She stopped thinking that way, and turned her mind to another pressing issue, one that she hoped she wasn't way off about, she may know Trip, but she didn't know him well enough to really know how he was coping.

"How is Trip holding up?" Erika had been the one to get the first call from Hoshi when she'd been having cramps a few days earlier, not long before Enterprise had made it back to Earth. _Enterprise_ herself had been on battle stations, so she hadn't gotten through, in desperation, Hoshi had called _Columbia_, just in case they'd have an easier time getting through. In the days that followed the cramps had stopped and both Hoshi and the baby were fine, but the scare had been enough to terrify all of them.

"He seems to have calmed down. Definitely calmer now we're back on Earth. I think he just needed to see her to convince himself that she really is OK."

"Sounds like someone else I know." She smiled, enjoying taking that chance to lightly tease him. The whole incident had brought back some painful memories for them both, and they had spoken more in the last few days than usual. She knew that what had happened to them almost a decade earlier was still in the back of both their minds, but she was glad their friends weren't going to have to deal with that pain. She shook her head, trying to get the negative out of her mind, again, knowing that she might fail at it. "I'll call Hoshi tomorrow, just to check in."

"She'd like that." Jon's face took on a pensive look, and she wondered what he was thinking, rather than press she knew that she needed to wait this time, and allow him to mull it over. "Trip made me think, the other day, have you ever thought about maybe trying for kids again."

Jon's question seemed innocent, but she couldn't help but feel like there was a lot riding on her answer, a lot that she wasn't sure she was ready to think about yet. She'd avoided thinking of the future because she didn't know what was going to happen, she didn't know if either of them would survive the war, she didn't know if they'd still want to be together at the end of it, and she didn't know where they were now, regardless. Maybe it would be safer for her to turn the question back on him, even if only so she could make up her own mind. "Do you want us to try again?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"You know that the odds would be stacked against us this time." She shook her head a little, she wasn't sure what she wanted, if she wanted kids, if she didn't. The more she thought on it, the more she did want them, but not with anyone, and if Jonathan wasn't the father she wouldn't want them, which was a completely different matter. "I'm almost 43 now, and whatever happens we'd have to wait until the end of the war, and who knows when that will be."

Jon held a hand up, a slight defensiveness to the posture that was endearing. "Rike, I wasn't asking for us to start trying right away, just about if you'd ever thought about it?"

"Of course I've thought about it." That much she couldn't lie about, she had, in the dark when she thought about a life after the war, she did see children, whether natural or adopted she'd never quite decided, but every time she woke up again and thought about the practicalities. "Jon, we don't really have the time though, do we, not the way our careers are going. We should really pause this conversation, at least until the end of the war. Particularly as we never really clarified what we are to one another."

He pulled a face that told her he didn't know what she was talking about. Sometimes, she just needed something said, and their relationship was definitely one of those things. Especially now. She was certain if they'd been together, he would have held onto her at this point, as it was he just narrowed his eyes a little. "I didn't ever think that needed clarification. I've been in love with you for 18 years. Nothing has ever changed that. I just want you to be happy, and if that's with me, now and after the war, then that's all the better for me but-"

She cut him off there, before he talked himself out of what he'd just said, which she knew could easily happen to a Jonathan Archer under pressure. "Jon, stop. Believe me I feel the same for you as I always have, I just never know exactly what we are. Don't you ever just feel like you need a name, something tangible, even if it's only for in your mind."

"Not really, because I know that no matter what happens I can depend on you, for anything." He studied her intensely from the other side of the screen, and she was sure that he could almost read her mind, read the thoughts that were spinning around in there. "I don't think there is a name for us. Not yet. I know what you are to me, and I know what I want to be able to call you, to introduce you to people as, but until I manage to finally get you down the aisle that name wouldn't be accurate."

"Eventually that'll be something we can do." She grinned, and thought about a way to change the conversation, if only to something jokingly related. "If that's what you want."

"If I want?" The confusion on his face made her want to burst out laughing, and she completely blamed that on the adorableness of him when he was confused. "Erika, I've wanted to marry you for as long as I've known you. But we weren't ready, and we're still not ready. One day."

She smiled, feeling ridiculous. It was amazing how one tiny niggle in the back of your mind at this time of night could fester into needing that boost of someone telling you something straight.

"You're right, sorry Jon. I just like having the clarification because it's-" She stopped herself and looked at the chronometer, realising they'd been on the comm for more than two hours. "Wow, it's 2am, I'm exhausted and I miss you. Can we continue this next time we're together in person?"

"Of course, where is _Columbia_ headed after Deneva, presuming that you don't have to go back to Earth?"

"We're due at Proxima in two weeks. What about _Enterprise_?"

"Yep, Proxima too, maybe we can find a break while there to finish this conversation, or we can write it off to it being 2am. I think we addressed the issue." She nodded in agreement, whatever her issue had been, it was solved now, she couldn't even remember what had started it.

"Definitely. I should probably get some sleep. Call me tomorrow?"

"As soon as I can." His face finally split into the familiar smile, the one that told her he loved her and that he wished they could spend more of that time together.

"I love you." She muttered, and then realised exactly how rare it was for her to say those three words first, not that she didn't love him, just that, sometimes, she didn't want to risk saying it at the wrong moment. Jon's smile told her that he appreciated it.

"I love you, too, Rike. Be safe." He shut off the comm and she was left alone with her thoughts, more than she really wanted to think about. For years her crew had brought up the very topic they'd discussed tonight and she'd always avoided giving an answer because she didn't know. Somewhere over the course of that conversation she'd made up her mind about what she wanted, which meant she'd made her first plan for the future, and for some reason, that both comforted and terrified her.


	8. Chapter 8

******My regular Jorika readers - I need your suggestions for stories you'd like to see! If you have an idea of something you'd like to see for our favourite couple, please message me. (Don't worry, I promise in the continuing series they get their happy ever after!) - Shin xx**

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_**August 2158**_

She looked between the two men in her ready room and wondered, again, why it was so hard to keep this ship running to a good standard. Why did _Columbia_ hate running smoothly, and why did it always crop up when they least needed it. "So, how are we doing?" She addressed her chief engineer first. Stewart Rivers had been out in deep space longer than anyone else on the ship, having served on _Enterprise_ for the first three years of her mission, and he had been part of the crew that had returned from the Expanse. He was the only person who could keep _Columbia_ running, he and the ship had a relationship that she couldn't even begin to compete with, and she was sure that he would give her hell if he thought she was pushing her too far.

As it was, he smiled and handed her a padd with green bars across the board. The first time she'd seen that since they were last in Jupiter station. _Columbia_ didn't like to have everything running at the same time. "We've repaired everything we can here, and we're running at 99%." Stewart's grin told her a lot, and she nodded with a smile, leaning against her desk, not feeling the need to sit down.

"So as good as we ever are?" She joked, smiling even further at Stewart's nod of the head and teasing smile. She turned to her XO, who was watching their exchange with interest. They both knew why they'd been called in here, she needed to make the decision on where they were setting sail for next. "Kalil, what about morale, do we need a trip home?"

"I don't think so, the crew is busy, but everyone is working and everyone seems to be rather happy."

She mulled that over for a minute, thinking about whether any possible mental health issues would be better dealt with now or in a few weeks. If there were no concerns, she didn't feel the need to go home. "That's better than expected. Proxima?"

"I'd say continue on to Proxima, then if there are any issues we'll have the teams at Proxima and _Enterprise_'s expertise to help." Kalil nodded, and she weighed his opinion with her own.

"The commander is right. I'm happy to support our continuation to Proxima."

"Proxima it is."

"You sound happy about that, Captain." Kalil teased as she turned and headed toward the door back out to the bridge.

"No ship commander wants to take a trip home during the war when it's unnecessary, and we've not checked in at Proxima for a while, we all have friends there." The nerve centre of the ship was alive with activity to say it was the start of the morning shift. Most mornings the bridge was full of lethargic officers, however it seemed the few days of planetside leave had helped everyone. Everyone was back aboard, and it was time to leave.

"You're right about that, Amsha will be unhappy that I'm not returning." Kalil said as he made his way over toward the science station.

"Only because baby number 8 is on the way, Kalil. Will you two ever stop?" Kiona smiled as she stepped away from the command chair where she'd been left during the impromptu briefing.

"Nobody else on this crew is planning on contributing to the continuation of the human race, Amsha and I are just doing our bit for humanity." He return the tease, and Erika couldn't help but smile at the interaction between her crew. She had always been a fan of people watching, and sometimes her senior staff were the best people to watch.

"Sure, you tell yourself that."

"It's my excuse and I'm sticking to it."

"And a good excuse it is too, Reiko, set a course for Proxima Colony. Sidra, hail the administration centre." She stood a minute, taking a step down and putting a hand on Reiko's shoulder as she waited for the comm channel to be opened.

"Open."

"Deneva Colony Control, this is _Columbia_, confirming departure to Proxima Colony." She spoke clearly to the overheads, still knowing that the damage that had been inflicted on Deneva wasn't entirely repaired, and sometimes the comms cut out.

"Received _Columbia_, safe journey."

"Thank you. Reiko."

"Warp 3?" The pilot asked, looking over her shoulder toward the Captain. Erika internally debated for a second before deciding how fast they were going to get there. She knew Enterprise wasn't due for two weeks, so there was no reason for Columbia to rush toward the colony.

"Let's go for 3.5, we want to get there before the brass give us another mission."

The bridge settled into it's usual rhythm. She once again took the opportunity to observe and listen to her crew. The four years that had passed since _Columbia_'s launch had gelled the crew together more than she had thought it would. They had supported each other through the losses of Veronica, Karl, Brynn and countless other losses over the course of the three year war. She was still thinking about her old friend when she heard a question addressed to her. "Captain, what do you think of the name Kerrine."

"Trying out new names for the baby Kalil?"

"Amsha wants to try a more contemporary name, I think she's run out of traditional girls names that she likes. She sent me a list." He held up a padd, all the women on the bridge turned to face the XO, and she spotted the subtle darkening that was Kalil's equivalent of a deep blush.

Erika spotted the look that her tactical officer and comms officer shot each other, and she knew what was coming before either of them started."Remind her that Kiona is a wonderful name."

"As is Sidra."

"Kiona Sidra el-Rashad" Kalil suggested, a sarcastic look on face.

"Poor child." She didn't even see the padd flying in her direction until it hit her on the leg. "Ouch, that was uncalled for and striking a superior officer is a court-martial offence." She smiled and looked toward Kalil, who had a look of intense innocence on his face.

"I didn't see anything."

"Nor me."

"I'll have you all on mutiny charges." She looked around the bridge, hoping to find at least one ally amongst her officers, she didn't seem to be having much luck though.

"Hard to make that stick with no evidence."

"Dammit. For the record, I like Kerrine, its simple." She said, it was a nice name, not one she'd heard before, but she could see it working for Kalil's latest baby.

"That's the only one on the list I like."

"Maybe that's the one you should recommend." She smiled, sitting back in her chair again, reading the progress reports Stewart had given her before he'd made his hasty return to engineering. Not that she blamed him, she knew the hazing that went on on the bridge took getting used too. She was still thumbing through the reports when the subtle beeping of the comm console drew her attention.

"Captain, we're getting a hail. It's from Admiral Gardner on _Enterprise_."

"Oh, this is going to be fun, put it through." She stood up, dropping the padd to her chair. She smiled a little as she saw Jon stood beside Gardner, towering over him as he always had. "Admiral, Jonathan." She nodded to them both, suddenly very aware that something bad was happening, she could tell that just by one look at Jon's face.

"Captain, have you left Deneva?"

"A few minutes ago."

"How fast can you make it to Proxima?"

She did some quick maths, knowing that she could get it right without needing to consult anyone else. "A week at warp 5."

"So ordered."

"Can I ask what's happened, sir?"

"You'll be sent briefing notes soon, they are classified. You'll be getting your new orders when you arrive at Proxima. Gardner out."

"That sounded promising. Not."

"No it did not. Kalil you have the bridge. Sidra, route the information to my ready room when it arrives." She stood up, Kalil seamlessly taking her position. Once she was in her private sanctum she allowed herself a moment to think about the change in atmosphere on the bridge the moment the call had come in. She couldn't blame her crew for the apprehension, she felt it too. They hadn't signed up to fight a war, but they had all become veterans none-the-less, and that was the sad thing about this war. Once the documents showed on her personal database, and she felt her jaw drop to the floor, no wonder Gardner wanted them to Proxima as quick as possible, the war was heating up again, and who knew where this would end.


	9. Chapter 9

**********This is the last chapter in this story! The next story will be up within the next few days! Hope to see all of you for it!**

**********My regular Jorika readers - I need your suggestions for stories you'd like to see! If you have an idea of something you'd like to see for our favourite couple, please message me. (Don't worry, I promise in the continuing series they get their happy ever after!) - Shin xx**

* * *

_**August 2158**_

The final briefing after two weeks on Proxima was a bittersweet one for her, while she knew that they both needed to move on to their next engagements. She wasn't exactly relishing what was happening. The needed to get out to Rigel, that was obvious. The fact that the Romulans were once again attacking unaligned worlds worried her, much as it would to anyone else who had to depend on these planets. The business of the last few weeks had completely taken over what was supposed to have been her leave weeks, she should give up hoping for leave and store it all up for the end of the war. Take a few weeks and sun herself on a beach somewhere. She pulled her face as Jon handed her a padd, leading her out of his ready room. "You should have enough of a battle plan there. I wish I could help more."

"One day more would probably help." She had to admit, Jon's plan was solid, she just wasn't sure if they could pull it off with only six ships. He stopped in the doorway before opening the door to the bridge, gently resting a hand on her cheek for a second.

"I wish we had that time."

She smiled and turned her head to kiss his palm before leaning round him slightly and opening the door. "Me too. At least you're rid of Sam now."

"For a while at least. He'll be after you next." Jon teased as they stepped up to the bridge, and all she could do was shake her head, already knowing that she wouldn't get a visit from Gardner until she absolutely had too, probably Columbia's 5 year review, which was still a year away.

"I don't think so, you know he doesn't particularly like me, not now. Thinks I'm hard work now I'm a command officer."

"You are hard work." Jon replied, a look of complete teasing innocence on his face as he turned away from her to look around his bridge crew. She caught the smirks on both Trip and Malcolm's faces, and she shot a glare to each of them. Making it clear that they would not survive repeating that to anyone. It was fairly obvious that Jon caught the smirks too, he turned back to her and shrugged before addressing his XO. "Trip, get everyone back aboard, I'm just going to escort Captain Hernandez back to _Columbia_."

"Aye Captain."

She shook her head and lead the way to the turbolift, holding it and tapping her foot until Jon joined her. As soon as the doors closed she squeezed his sides to make her point. "I am not hard work."

"You can be, you make me work hard enough."

She pulled a face, shaking her head at him for that one. She probably did make him work hard, but there were reasons for that, and certainly none of them applied to the Admiral. If they did she would have been worried. "That's different, I'm sleeping with you."

"I'm glad that makes you think it's different."

"It is different. I'm telling you."

"Rike." He groaned, stepping out of the turbolift as it arrived on E deck, the nearest lift to where the airlock _Columbia_ was docked at. She slowed her pace, wanting to drag out this walk as long as she possibly could, if only so she didn't have to go to battle. She knew the real reason though, she wanted a few minutes longer with Jon.

"Jonathan." She smiled innocently, and after a second he sighed.

"OK, fine, you win." He gave in, and she smiled. As they approached the junction to _Columbia_ she couldn't help but think about what they were being sent to do, even though she had wanted to keep that away from their goodbye this time.

"I can't believe the Romulans attacked near Rigel. They aren't even aligned!"

"They've given aid to a few ships, and that's probably why. Promise me that you'll be careful out there, no stopping to have fun."

"Fun, in a battle zone? Yeah, it'll be all dance parties and cocktails." She shook her head as she realised her own sarcasm, he had long accused her of using it as a defence, and she knew he was right. After a deep breath she looked to him again, "sorry."

"I mean it. Be careful" He looked serious as she stepped out of the way of an ensign rushing past them in the opposite direction.

"I know. Just keep your new comm officers ears peeled for our not so subtly disguised distress signal." She teased, she still hadn't learnt the name of Hoshi's replacement, it had only been a few months though, and she hadn't needed to speak to them all that much.

"Every day, and you'll call me when you can, right?"

"Every night, just like always."

"I love you." He muttered, stopping her at the airlock, she grinned a little and nodded.

"You too. Oh, and if they give you any trouble out at Deneva, tell them that I'll send Rivers back with you if they give you a hard time."

"OK, that needs an explanation." He put hand on her shoulder, turning her to face him.

"Apparently the councilman's daughter took a bit of a fancy to him. Daddy was unhappy and Rivers returned to the ship in his blues covered in something, I never asked for clarification on what."

"That sounds simultaneously hilarious and terrifying." Jon laughed, and she couldn't help but smile. That kind of laughter was something neither of them got the chance to have all that often.

"It was, the political fallout we had was not, but I mostly got it smoothed over, and the councilman and I came to an agreement."

"Well, at least there is that."

"I suppose I should get back to my ship. We have a war to fight." She smiled, her eyes locked with his. The regret she felt mirrored back at her.

"You probably should, yes." He replied with a similar smile. Looking back she would never quite be sure which of them made the first move, but the next thing she knew they'd slid into the jeffries tube junction besides the airlock, and her hands were in his hair, their favourite place to be. In the last two weeks they'd been at Proxima, between having the Admiral around them all the time and making battle plans, they hadn't really spent any time together, besides a stolen hour where they took the chance on discussing the issues that had come up a few months earlier. He lifted her up against the bulkhead and kissed her harder, their hands searching out zippers and buttons. She knew they both had somewhere else to be, but this could well be the last time they saw each other, and while most times they could fight this kind of reaction, the decision they'd made about the state of their relationship had made it harder. Jon bit down a little on her exposed neck just as the comm system sounded.

"Bridge to Captain Archer." They shared a look, and Jon adjusted her in his arms so that he could reach for the comm panel without having to put her down. She nuzzled into his neck as he spoke, burying her face in the crease of his shoulder. Trying to forget the universe for just one more minute.

"Go ahead Trip." He said, his tone mostly even, but she was certain that Trip would probably pick up on the subtleties of the tone, and the fact that Jon was still largely breathless.

"Everyone is aboard."

"I'll be up there soon, Archer out." He hit the contact again, bringing his arm back around her.

"He'll know something was going on." She smiled, kissing his neck again before pulling back a little so she could look at his face. They both knew that the moment had been broken, but she still didn't really want to leave. "Jon, come on, I should get back to _Columbia_, we're both needed elsewhere." She muttered after a second, stroking the hair at the nape of his neck, she definitely preferred this scragglier look that he was going for, with his longer hair and stubble. That was something she might have to convince him to keep after the war.

He smiled a little as she did, then nodded, letting her down but keeping his arms wrapped around her. "You're right, I just have one important question first."

"That is?" She smiled as he kissed her again. A lot of the urgency gone though. She wrapped her arms around him for a moment and pressed her cheek to his, wondering when they'd have the chance to do this again, the same thoughts that ran through her head every time they left each other.

It was clear after a minute the same thought was running through his head, and this time they could both sense the subtle change in the pace of the war. "Promise me you'll come home."

"Only if you make the same promise."

"Every time. I'll see you soon." He stepped back after one final kiss, they both pulled their uniforms back into place as she studied him. There weren't many things she could say to that, but the one she knew she could say before she took her ship back was the one that jumped out at her. She would see him soon, she was sure of that. One way or another they'd find a way. She'd call him tonight once they were both underway, and it would probably alleviate some of the tension, at least. She squeezed his hand as they left the junction and were stood right at the airlock again. She turned and stopped in the doorway and put a smile on, wanting to show him that she was sure that they'd be here again, someday soon.

"I _will_ see you, as soon as we're done with the bad guys."


End file.
